You Get What You Don’t Pay For: An Introduction to Open Textbooks Josh Cromwell, University Libraries October 4, 2016

Road Map Introduction What are Open Textbooks/OER? Why Open Textbooks? Case Study and Examples Intro to the Open Textbook Initiative Q&A

Introduction

What are Open Textbooks? Textbooks or other course materials that are free to use and reuse Composed of resources that are Open Access, public domain, or licensed but free to students (e.g. library resources) Created electronically but often print-friendly Print-on-demand option Can be in the form of textbooks or more like course packs OA and PD preferred – easier to reuse Library resources should be linked using EZproxy URL Don’t have to be printable, but is often better if they are – some students prefer print Some schools offer POD for a small fee for students who want print

Why Open Textbooks? Beneficial for students No cost for students Avg. cost per semester using traditional textbooks: $600-$1200 Many students can’t afford traditional textbooks Frequently improve student performance/retention US Bureau of Labor Statistics: College textbook costs increased 88% between 2006 and 2016 Textbook costs: National Association of College Stores - $600; College Board - $1,200 Student PIRGs research: 65% of students didn’t buy a textbook because of cost Of this group, 94% expected it to negatively affect their performance in the course OER have unlimited concurrent users – most e-texts or textbook reserves do not Journal of Computing in Higher Education study: Survey across nine universities & community colleges found equal or better performance from students in courses w/OER in almost all cases

Why Open Textbooks? (cont’d) Beneficial for Faculty Can be adapted to course objectives Gives assurance that all students have access to the same material Easier to refine/adapt Broader impact Beneficial for the University Recruitment tool Promotes student success For faculty: More flexibility with OA textbook – traditional texts often more generic and not as specific to individual instructors Some faculty hesitant to use textbook assignments because not all students can afford books If faculty notice a deficiency with an open textbook, they can change it, even if they aren’t the author For university: Students more likely to attend if costs are lower thanks to free textbooks JCHE study: Students in classes with OER enrolled in more credit hours the next semester

A Case Study (Or: “I Was Told There’d Be No Math!”) At Southern Miss in 2015-2016… 7731 students awarded need-based financial aid On average, this aid met 67% of student need Tuition for in-state full time student was $3490 Room and board was $4305 Average textbook cost was $1000 Avg. cost for a full-time in-state undergraduate living on campus: $8795 If aid covers 67% of need, student would owe $2902.35 Without textbook fees, this drops to $1902.35 Aid would now cover 78% of student expenses rather than 67% Data taken from the Common Data Sets on USM Institutional Research website and from 2015-2016 academic bulletin

What About the Bookstore? Many students already forego the bookstore Textbook rentals, used copies from Amazon, etc. Textbook margins are minimal “As Textbooks Go Digital, Campus Bookstores May Go Bookless,” Chronicle of Higher Education, 14 November 2010 “’…the margin on textbooks is one of the lowest margins around.’ In terms of profit margin, [the bookstore] does better selling chips.” OER still a very small portion of the marketplace Many students buy cheaper copies from Amazon, etc. or don’t buy book at all UMass Amherst example: Amazon partnered with university. Students buy/rent books online from Amazon, books are shipped overnight to campus pickup location for free, university gets a percentage of all sales Quote from Chronicle article: Bookstores at colleges already make far more profit on college-themed merchandise and on food and other convenience-store fare than on books. Textbooks may have high prices, but store managers say they see little of that money. "We get a lot of bad press—the mean old nasty money-grubbing bookstore," says Ms. Hale, of Bellingham Technical College. "But the margin on textbooks is one of the lowest margins around." In terms of profit margin, she does better selling chips.

Examples of OER Programs UMass Amherst Open Education Initiative Portland State University PDXOpen University of Mississippi Hewlett Foundation grants Open Education Initiative: Just completed sixth cycle and has saved students $1.3 million in textbook costs Faculty submit proposals and apply for small grants to implement OER in their courses PDXOpen: accepts ongoing proposals, hosts texts in the IR Multimedia textbooks Ole Miss: grants to encourage faculty to adopt OER; includes training session Goal is to create pathway to degree using only OER

Open Textbook Initiative Opportunity for faculty to apply for funding to assist with creating or implementing an open textbook Application opens at the end of October Three tiers: Adopt ($400) Modify ($800) Create ($1600) Recipients notified by end of the calendar year Eligibility criteria available online Application process will run for about a month (until early December) Adopt: Implement an existing open textbook Modify: Build a textbook out of existing books, library resources, original materials, etc. Create: Write your own open textbook

Open Textbook Initiative (cont’d) Other elements of the program Copyright and technology training Partnering with a research librarian who can assist with identifying resources Rough timeline of benchmarks for completing the program Participants writing their own open textbook may host them on Aquila Recipients must complete the program by the start of the Fall 2017 semester Copyright training (Libraries) Exceptions to the timeline may be considered for courses only offered in the spring

For More Information Presentations Examples Sarah Mangrum & Elizabeth La Beaud, “Copyright, Publishing, and Open Access: What You Need to Know” http://aquila.usm.edu/oaweek/2014/1/3/ Marilyn Billings, “The Open Education Initiative at UMass Amherst: Seeking Alternatives to High-Cost Textbooks” http://aquila.usm.edu/irday2015/1/ Examples Open Education Initiative (UMass Amherst) http://www.library.umass.edu/services/teaching-and-learning/oer/open-education-initiative/ PDXOpen (Portland State) http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/pdxopen/

For More Information Upcoming Events Reports Open Textbook Initiative Michele Frasier-Robinson and Anne Hudson, “OER Building Blocks: Identifying Resources for Open Textbooks” http://aquila.usm.edu/oaweek/2016/1/2/ Panel Discussion, “Open Textbooks: Experiences and Perspectives” http://aquila.usm.edu/oaweek/2016/1/3/ Reports Ethan Senack, “Open Textbooks: The Billion-Dollar Solution” http://studentpirgs.org/sites/student/files/reports/The%20Billion%20Dollar%20Solution.pdf Open Textbook Initiative Program overview https://www.usm.edu/provost/open-access-textbook-initiative Open Textbook Initiative form is for last year, but the description of the program is the same Student PIRGs (Public Interest Research Groups) are a leading advocate for OER from a student standpoint

Questions? Josh Cromwell Institutional Repository Coordinator University Libraries Phone: 601.266.6200 Email: joshua.cromwell@usm.edu Website: http://aquila.usm.edu